Reliance and Reverence: India's gift to global healthcare

By Suivr Saran

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 12 : From a 45th-floor perch in Worli, where clouds kissed glass and the city of dreams blinked like a restless constellation, I moved closer to earth, and strangely, closer to wonder. My new home, an 8th-floor apartment at Bandstand in Bandra, doesn't soar but sighs. It breathes. It opens its arms to the ocean, lets in light filtered through palm fronds and sea salt, and invites reflection rather than spectacle.

And from this sea-swept, soul-stilled vantage, I set out one morning to Reliance Foundation Hospital in Girgaon. I had with me a troubling MRI and a shoulder in silent revolt. But what I found wasn't just medical care. It was modern Indiameasured, meaningful, and magnificently ahead of its time.

Let me begin with the scent. Yes, the scent. When I stepped past security, having placed my phone in a tray and walked through a well-lit vestibule, there was no whiff of antiseptic fear. No stale sheets. No sterile sadness. There was instead a whisper of warmth, a faint floral softness, an aroma that wouldn't be out of place in a thoughtfully curated home. This was no ordinary hospital.

There was order, yes. But also elegance. Cleanliness, of course. But also character. A sense of intention in every inch. This was Indiabut not the one often imagined in black-and-white frames of either chaos or charm. This was a new India. Calm and contemporary, but also conscious of its own potential and its place in the world.

I arrived 22 minutes lateMumbai traffic, shoulder nerves, the ocean holding me back a little. At registration, I was greeted by name. "Mr. Saran," said one woman with a smile, "don't worry, Dr. Bhatia is having a coffee." Another added, "He was waiting for you." That detail. That decency. That quiet choreography between colleaguesit told me this is a system that speaks to itself. One that listens inwardly. And when such a system bends, it doesn't breakit pivots with grace.

As I waited, I was weighedseated, gently, no fuss. Simultaneously, my blood pressure was taken. No cold scales, no standing in socks on stainless steel. Just a chair, a cuff, a presence. These little touchesso obvious, yet so rarereminded me that comfort is not luxury. It is the beginning of healing. In 30 years of living in the United States, I'd never been examined with such intuitive care.

Then came the consultation.

Dr. Bhatia, with the looks of a movie star and the calm of a monk, welcomed me with a grin. "You were my first appointment," he said. "Yes, I'm sorry," I replied. "I know your name," he answered. "Please sit."

I offered my reports. "I don't want to take too much of your time," I began.

"You have all my time," he said. "Tell me your story. That's more important than your scans."

And just like that, I exhaled.

What followed wasn't a transactionit was a conversation. A communion. He made me recount my historynot just the injury, but the emotion, the effort, the why. He examined me with a thoroughness I'd only known in New York, at NYU Langone. He asked, coaxed, noticed. He didn't rush. He didn't patronise. He caredfully, deeply.

This hospital is not simply a structure. It is a statement.

Not just an institution. An invocationof how healthcare can and should be.

It is a living embodiment of Nita Mukesh Ambani's vision. A vision not rooted in vanity, but in values. It doesn't chase Western modelsit redefines them. It does not emulate. It innovates. It shinesquietly, clearly, confidently.

This hospital wasn't created for applause, but for impact. Not built as a monument, but as a movement. From the guards who salute with sincerity to the staff who call you by nameit's all designed with empathy, executed with excellence.

This is what the world will learn from India tomorrow.

Because while much of the "developed world" languishestrapped in past glories, dulled by bureaucracy, paralysed by legacyIndia is rising with purpose. Not merely catching up, but leaping forward. And doing so not by forgetting its past, but by reimagining it.

For decades, we assumed the West knew best. That their hospitals, their structures, were sacrosanct. But as I sat in a waiting area that felt more like a spa than a ward, I realised: they're not leading anymore. They're coasting. While India is climbing.

And leading this quiet revolution is a woman. A woman of extraordinary grace, grit, and gumption. Nita Mukesh Ambani, with her belief in dignity, in equity, in excellence. She hasn't just imagined a better hospital. She has created a new coda for care.

Because healthcare, after all, is not just about science. It is about soul. Seeing the patient, not just the pathology. Hearing the story, not just the symptoms.

That's what this hospital does. It sees. It hears. It heals.

As I entered that morning, I passed a corridor that led to the OPD escalators. And on the right, I paused. Nestled into the architecture were three serene deitiesgarlanded, prayed to, gently glowing. A priest stood nearby, incense spiralling upward. There was a presence. There was peace. It was sacred, but never showy.

And I thoughthow casually, how comfortably, India holds its spirit. In the West, we see Christian saints in hospital lobbies and names above surgical wings. Yet we often grow squeamish about our own divinity. But here, prayer was doing what it's always meant topraying for all. For the planet. For the sick. For the soul of the world.

That too is Nita Mukesh Ambani's gift. Her insistence that Indian identity need not be hidden or trimmed for outside eyes. That Indian minds, hearts, rituals, and heritage deserve to be seen, held, and honoured. Not puppeteered by the Westbut proudly, poetically reimagined on our terms.

I left with more than insight into my shoulder. I left lighter. Straighter. Because I had witnessed something bigger than healing. I had witnessed a country standing tall.

And I bow to that vision. I salute this moment. I believe that the Global Southwherever its pulse beats brightwill not just catch up. It will lead.

And India, in all her rituals and research, skyscrapers and sanctums, is ready. (ANI/Suvir Saran)

Disclaimer: Suvir Saran is a Masterchef, Author, Hospitality Consultant And Educator. The views expressed in this article are his own.

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